Instead of powering through the water with a flick of her tail, the bottlenose could barely waggle from side to side.

She had lost her tail in a crab trap at just two months old and was found floating in distress off the coast of Florida.

Winter survived but there was a problem … where her tail should have been there was only a stump.

Aquarium director David Yates said: "She had to learn how to swim without a tail, which no dolphin has ever done in captivity.

"We didn't know if she could do that. But vets feared her waggling might damage her spine.

Their solution was an artificial tail and Kevin Carroll, who has designed prosthetics for dogs, an ostrich, and even a duck, offered his services.

"Little did I know it was going to take a year and a half. He added: "With a person, when we fit a socket we have one long, solid bone. We don't have to have the socket moving in every direction.